Polyphemus
by Zeldagirl367
Summary: One-shot. A first-hand account of the Tentalus boss battle.


Well, here I am.

It's the initial anticipation—that moment when you're standing outside the big golden door to the boss room, boss key in hand, fairies in your bottles and a full heart meter. Those few long seconds where you just stand and stare, anxiety building in the pit of your stomach. That's what I'm feeling.

The bulk of it comes from simply not knowing what'll be behind that door. Will it be big? Small? Gargantuan? On fire? You look at the door and you realize it could be anything. Maybe a recurring boss, like Gohma. Or maybe Nintendo is going to surprise you this time.

There are things you _do _you know, which you take comfort in. You know it'll have a weak point. Maybe an eye, or a gemstone, or an exposed spine. You know beating it will most likely involve the item you obtained in the dungeon earlier. In my case, it's a bow, and I've made certain that my quiver is full of arrows. And you know you have Fi trailing faithfully at your side, willing to provide advice if needed. If all else fails, there's always the run-in-circles-until-you-think-of-something trick. I try to remember all this. But it isn't enough.

Why am I so afraid? I wonder. I know it's only a game. I know no _actual _harm will come to me. But my heart thumps in my chest, hard, as though I'm in real danger. Of course, Link, standing there, shifting from one foot to the other while he waits for me to make a move, looks fine. _He's _not nervous. I'm the nervous one.

The smaller portion of my anxiety, I know, comes from the voice inside my head. _I'm not ready for this. _For a few moments, I actually think it's true. But then I remember. I _got _this far. I came here. I am ready.

I'm still nervous.

Do I stop? No. I need that Nayru's Flame, and I'm going to get it—no matter what's sitting behind that door.

I finally hit the A button for open, and it takes me a minute or two to figure out how the key goes in the hole. It's one of those puzzle locks—oddly shaped key, oddly shaped hole. I fit it in and the door opens. My butterflies get worse. I might be trembling. Link, without a thought, goes right in.

I look for Ghirahim when the scene cuts back, but something's wrong. I can tell. The music began as soon as I walked in—no introduction. It just started, and I know that can't be good. Ghirahim isn't even here to give me his usual pre-boss monologue. And the room is _tiny_. That scares me the most. It's small and square, with some sort of device in the middle, the kind of thing you'd expect in Lanayru Desert. About two seconds go by where I take these things in, and then five whopping tentacles burst through the floor around the device and go right through the ceiling.

I nearly scream, and I can't help it. My finger slams the pause button.

The map comes up, and the music fades slightly, though still there. I breathe for a second, staring at the screen. It was funny—Link had looked just as startled as I was. Knowing I can't stay on pause forever, I press the back button.

To my surprise, the tentacles retreat, leaving gaping holes in the floor. I wait for them to come back. They don't. The music goes on, and I analyze. Okay, so it has tentacles. Great. Wonderful. I know what sort of monster it is. But I'm still afraid. The ones with tentacles are never easy; I remember Morpha and Morpheel. No, I know what tentacles mean. They're a pain. The monster has the ability to snatch you off the ground, shake you in the air, throw you into a wall, or electrocute you on occasion. And it's probably massive. I move around the room, expecting a tentacle to pop out and scare me, but it doesn't. Nothing happens.

I realize that the room opens into another, and I move in. I'm scared. This isn't like other bosses. I can't predict what'll happen next.

Suddenly, the floor is tilting. _Tilting? _The _ship _is rocking. "What the hell?" I say out loud. The ship is rocking! But it had never done that before—I'd been _on _this thing for the longest time.

I have to call Fi. She calmly informs me where I am and what's going on (thanks a lot) and then tells me that I have the ability to manifest a Skyward Strike by holding my sword towards the sky. I grit my teeth. No _duh_. We did this tutorial bit at the beginning of the game.

Thinking it might be a hint, I raise my sword and wait until the blue light has engulfed the blade. Then I shoot the laser at the control mechanism. Nothing happens. Fantastic advice, Fi.

That's when I figure out that the second room opens into a third, and I feel a little dumb. This one's a large hallway, but as soon as I start down it, the tentacles come back, this time shooting horizontally through the wall. Fi then appears and lets me know that the ship is under attack and may capsize if something isn't done.

Oh, Fi.

However, her next line of text is rather helpful. She suggests that the monster can be driven back with a sacred power.

That doesn't stump me. I start throwing Skyward Strikes at that thing like baseballs. The tentacles retreat, and my path is cleared. I move, and don't hesitate to start up some stairs.

I hit a landing, and suddenly, there's water up to Link's ankles. I remember what Fi said about the ship capsizing and go faster. Heart racing, I run, encountering more tentacles. I take care of them the best I can before I go, the water still rising. I hit a door, and once again, Fi stops me, saying she senses an evil presence behind it. At this point, I'm actually hoping it will be Girahim. I know it won't be.

I go through the door. I'm so nervous.

I come out, and it's raining. I'm standing on a platform in the water, wooden and a little rickety. It's big and there's plenty of room, and that makes me feel a little better. Link is cautious. I know what will happen, but it still startles me when it does.

The platform shakes, and the door I came through is blocked by falling debris. Figures. The camera turns out to the water, the rumbling still filling the air. I swallow.

And up it comes.

It's not big. It's not massive. It's frigging colossal, towering above Link and roaring loudly. The camera gives me a good and obvious look at its single eye. I lock my sights on it. He tentacles come from its _head_—yeah, it's got crazy tentacles for hair, like freaking Medusa. This thing is Medusa, Polyphemus, and the Leviathan rolled into one. Delightful. Its name appears at the bottom of the screen—TENTALUS. I don't feel scared of this thing at all now; I mean, look at that eye! It's an easy target. A few shots with my arrows, and—

Oh shit. What's it doing now?

Its eye closes. A minor setback, I think. I can get it to open again, probably. But then it's gone back into the water, and I don't realize what's happening until another tentacle comes bursting through the ground beside me. I jump and move away, putting the old run-in-circles trick into action, but there are more tentacles now and it gets hard. They're following me, eventually catching up as the ground begins to pop up underneath me. I'm not panicking too much until one grabs me.

"Shit!" I cry. _There go a whole two hearts. _I thrash to break free, and when it releases me I'm surprised to see Link land lightly back on his feet and my health meter still full. I feel even more confident, and raise my sword to start swinging.

I go on like this for a bit running from the tentacles while they try to get a hold of me. I know they can still hurt me, having been slightly startled at one point where a tentacle had knocked me over instead of grabbing me. I'd lost a full heart, but I had ten more. Not too big of a deal, right?

Finally, I get enough Skyward Strikes in to make the tentacles stop coming altogether, and I wait, facing the water. I know it has to show itself now, and sure enough, up comes Mr. Polyphemus in his gargantuan might, roaring and splashing. My nerves start acting up, because I know that my timing is key. If I don't do this quickly enough, he'll go back underneath the platform and I'll have to start all over again. I pull out my bow. My hands are shaking. They're _shaking. _I can't keep my aim steady as I pull the nunchuck back to nock an arrow, and shoot that great whipping eye. I miss. "Damn!" I try again, and even with my violent trembling I make it, causing Polyphemus to let loose a roar and then fall dazed onto the platform. Putting my bow away, I dash to his eye. The music has become downright epic, egging me on as I hit that great big eye over and over. But I know I'm not done. Polyphemus gets back up, I retreat, and he goes under again. I'm already preparing my first Skyward Strike.

It's the same cycle, though this time the tentacles come faster, and I can't stop moving for even a second or they come up from under me. I throw those Skyward Strike, losing some health in the process and using a fairy, and when the tentacles stopo again I catch myself thinking I've got it down. Why was I so afraid before? This was going to be a piece of cake.

But Polyphemus surprises me by coming up on my right side instead of in front, and I have to readjust my aim. In that time, Polyphemus takes action.

I guess I shouldn't really be calling him Polyphemus, since the game told me his name is Tentalus, but if you saw him, you'd agree that Polyphemus fits better. He slams those big tentacles down right on top of me, knocking out several more hearts. Link gets up, and fingers fumbling on the buttons, I take out my bow and shoot.

I make it on the first try this time, and Polyphemus falls again. I'm even faster than before, that music playing in and extinguishing my fear. For those few seconds, when I've got that thing in a stupor on the ground, I'm in control. _I'm in control. _It feels good. Great, even. But soon, the moment is gone, and the monster is back. I ready another Skyward Strike. I know this'll be my last round-the third time is often the charm. But I also know this means that Polyphemus will be fiercer than ever, and my heart pounds while I wait.

Four tentacles come up at once, and I hurl my Strike at them before running, holding my Wii remote up in the air. By now, my arm is aching like crazy, and I've already had to pause several times to give myself a break. But I keep going now, because the tentacles aren't just following me this time. They're popping through all around, left, right, in front. It's practically a maze, and I just swing that sword like crazy until Polyphemus has been forced up for the final time. My arrow hits him, I attack his eye, and-

The camera angle changes. Polyphemus is roaring and swaying, but I'm getting a sense of dread. The music hasn't stopped and that's a big clue. This isn't over.

Polyphemus starts throwing a bit of a temper tantrum, tentacles slamming the platform where I stand. The wood begins to break apart. The camera angle cuts to show me a box against the wall, giving me access to a higher level. I run for the box and climb up.

The first thing I see is Nayru's symbol on the ground. Seeing it rekindles some confidence in me, reminding me what I'm here for. I'm here to purify my sword in Nayru's flame. I'm here to save Skipper's ship from the pirates, and rescue the crew. I'm here to take another step, a step closer to opening the Gate of Time, a step closer to Zelda. And this one-eyed beast was _not _going to stand in my way.

Polyphemus shows himself again, big Medusa hair floating outwards, eye wide open. In a flash, I shoot it, and I run to strike him, praying for that to be the end. I know it won't be. Polyphemus is up again, and I try to get my bow out fast, but…

Its hair freaking comes to life.

_What. The. Frack. _Suddenly I wonder if I should start calling this thing Medusa instead of Polyphemus. Its hair is like little snakes, stretching towards me and snapping. I try to move away but there's nowhere to go-the entire lower platform has been knocked off. I try to get past them. I can't. They keep biting me. They only take half a heart at a time, but it's eating up my health meter like crazy. I've got five hearts left. One hits me, and Link gets knocked off the edge.

He appears back on the platform, and now I'm really panicking. God no. Oh god no. Don't make me do this whole battle over again. Don't die, Link. Don't die. I try my bow again, but those stupid snakes keep coming at me. I run along the edge, but there's absolutely nowhere they can't reach me. Four hearts left. I try Fi, and to my outrage, she tells me for the third time about my Skyward Strike. I'm knocked off again. Two hearts left.

It's over, I think. I'll have to redo this. I've got no fairies left-I used them both earlier. But Link appears back on the platform, and as he gets up, I just start to get mad. I swing.

I cut off a snake's head. Surprised, I keep going, swinging left and right and not letting those things near me. I stood there, with two hearts left, Link blinking red, my meter beeping, Fi chirping frantically, just chopping off those heads until there were none left, and let me tell you that right then I felt so incredibly badass that it isn't funny.

Again, I know it's only a game. I know that none of it was real. But here, I was in control, and feeling pretty awesome about it too. Slice, slice, slice. Before long, Polyphemus has no snakes left, and I pull out my bow, hands trembling again, and only miss once before my arrow goes spinning towards its target.

I run before he's even fallen, and I hack the eye furiously. The music comes to an abrupt stop.

As Polyphemus dies melodramatically, I fall back against the couch and let out a long breath. Holy shit, I'd done that. Me, that tiny little human in green, had defeated the colossal Leviathan Polyphemus with the Medusa hair. Yeah. I deserved an inner celebration.

Polyphemus kindly leaves behind a heart container, which I need desperately. I pick it up before going to stand before Nayru's crest on the ground, raising my blade for one last Skyward Strike.

When the crest lights, the flame appears, blue and majestic as it flourishes. Fi sends the flames into my sword, and Link holds it high into the air. We feel the same. I am victorious...no, we are victorious, Link and I.

Still though, it puzzles me. What is it about that beginning moment-standing there before that big door, butterflies in our stomachs. What makes us so afraid? What makes us so terrified when the boss first shows itself? What makes us so triumphant when that monster finally disintegrates?

I offer you this answer: we feel this way because that's what Zelda _is. _Zelda makes you feel. It makes you feel as if you _are _Link, as though you are one, and in a way you are.

Don't be ashamed of it. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You do. Zelda can do anything really, and that must be why I love it so much. Zelda, even though it _is _a video game, kindles things within you that you've never felt before.

I take my sword in hand. _Screw you, Ghirahim, _I think. I'm off to find that last flame. Whether you like it or not.


End file.
